The Shadows Of Objectification Of Women

Janna L. Kim (2007) discoursed (as cited in Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012) Media as a tool that can shape the perception of females on their ideal figure. “Sexual objectification in media is characterized by a striking emphasis on female appearance. The media’s ideal women are styled according to the latest fashion trends, and their bodies have all the right curves.” (p.

The objectifications of a woman have been known to be centered around the actions of a man. Cat-calling, slut shaming, and men being in a superior position while women are inferior or counted as their ‘objects’ are all parts of the dehumanizing nature of objectification. This indicates that women are centered around their appearance and feminine demeanor, and nothing else needs to be accounted for. However, there are other influences that have contributed to the vicious cycle society has on degrading women. Women objectify other women over similar matters as men, but not similar relevance in sociocultural context. Another contributor to women objectification is women’s self-objectification, in which they internally reflect on their appearance and demeanor to seek the approval of the observer. The last and most dominant factor that has been deemed the main culprit of turning women into objects is the culture of advertisement. Advertising has sexually objectified women for years, and is the backbone of the degradation of women in the real world. It also depicts unrealistic images of the female body and attitude that no female human being can actually live up to. The media has introduced the actions of sexual discrimination and harassment, and has influenced the ideas of how women should be treated. The combination of these three components are continuing the cycle of the objectification of women.

Teenage girls are at an impressionable time in their lives. Mass Media is a key idea in one of the factors of socialization that become important to teenagers. Teenagers look to the media for a sense of entertainment. Whether it is movies, magazines, or even some aspects of social media, teenagers get a lot of influence from the media’s message. The problem with this is the media has a specific way of doing things and can be negative to a susceptible teenage girl. Media’s way of portraying a woman can be skewed and unrealistic way from what reality is. Teenage girls then have a desire for this look or way. In this essay the three ways I will describe as to why the media can negatively affect a teenage girls body image is by showing

There is a huge controversy in whether or not young girls are sexualized in the media. I absolutely agree that young girls and women are sexualized, us women are shown as sex objects and the world thinks its right. As a community, we should not let the media provoke women in the way they do. It disgusting on how they show women in tiny bathing suits. When did beauty ever become on what’s on the outside of a human being, beauty is on the inside; what’s in the heart. The media has set crazy standards for young girls and everyone is to blind to realize.

Under society’s norms for decades, young women have been put under the pressure and anticipation to have perfect bodies. That is, thin and curved, beautified by applying pounds of the makeup to their face but not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these standards imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model along the cover of Vogue being called flawless, it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the photocopy. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a pressing issue for young women. Advertisements and posters of skinny female models are all over. Young girls not only could be better but need to be more upright and feel driven to throw the perfect figure. Moreover, girls are evaluated and oppressed by their physical appearances. With supplements and apparel designed to enhance a facial expression; social media, magazines, and marketing campaigns and advertisements add to the burden of perfection. The fashion industry is a prime object of body image issues, as they believe clothes look better on tall and svelte women. Established on a survey participated by 13 to 17-year-old in the U.S., 90% “felt pressured by fashion and media industries to be skinny”, with more than 60% routinely compares themselves to models, while 46%

But I can’t help but believe there is something deeper than that – an issue of desensitization. If females of her generation are desensitized to that kind of material now (as research suggests), what does it mean for their understanding of sexuality? Perhaps more importantly, what does their intrinsic (although, perhaps, involuntary) acceptance of sexual behavior mean for men?

Objectifying is an adjective often put on the table in conversations about the depiction of women. The Objectification of women did not start with photography, but it certainly did not end with photography either. The progression of objectification was only blossoming in the 19th-20th century. At that time, most acknowledged photographers were men.

As a middle school student, I was oblivious to the unrealistic portrayals in the media, but I was not able to escape its harmful grasp. It seemed every girl at the school suffered with body image issues because their perception of beauty is what they had been taught by society. Anorexia and bulimia were far too common, while self-esteem and confidence were very hard to find. Not only were the girls trying to become “beautiful,” they were also trying to act older than they were. Starting at the extreme, drugs, alcohol, and sex seemed normal; far less extreme were the excessive amounts of makeup, skimpy outfits, and usage of the proper slang. These girls were merely doing what the media had taught them; they were being, or trying to be,

“The media have taken many celebrity appearances into their own hands, many times without permission” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). Because of the media photoshopping women 's beauty on TV, social media, and even advertisements, it began to create a high rate of accusations of teenage girls’ all over the world. “In a recent study, the University at Buffalo sociologists found that the portrayal of women in the popular media over the last several decades has become increasingly sexualized, even pornified"( Donovan par.1). Due to this, women have been treated as sexual objects everywhere. Objectification comes from the lack of confidence and media 's portrayal of beauty. Due to this, the portrayal of men is not the same as females. Objectification is when women are treated like sexual objects. ‘Objectification is often defined by physical appearance, rather than personality” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). As a result, women struggle to keep up with these trends today. “In order to achieve a ‘perfect’ look, the media manipulates photos using unnecessary editing in Photoshop to completely contort the original, creating an unnatural image” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). The media is the dominant cause of these actions of teenage girls insecurities, high rates of surgical treatment, and males creating these fictitious assumptions. Objectification in social media should end because it causes teenage insecurities, it

Looking back over this course the most valuable reading I learned was about persuasive writing and the different types of writing to use with a particular audience. I found myself in the beginning to be a cognitive writer, but now I think I have implemented all the views of writing during this course and have learned a lot. My favorite activity or essay I wrote about was the argumentative essay in written assignment 8. I wrote about, Sexual Objectification of Women" it is here where I learned through research and facts to persuade and educate the reader about human sexual objectification.

While the nation today is plagued with many a social injustice, one that continues to boggle my mind is that misogyny and the objectification of women is somehow still present. Barely 60 years ago (yes, your own grandmother probably was a victim of this overt sexism), gender bias was a completely acceptable, and often encouraged office practice. While this sort of sexism is not as prevalent in today’s work environment, it is important to remember that young men at work in the 1960’s who experienced and practiced this overt gender bias are the men who grew up to found and run companies that many young people work at today. It is completely ignorant to even say that these sorts of biases are extinct, as they died out due to fear of lawsuits

(Heubeck 2006) For many young people, especially girls, the ideal continues to chase them as they grow into young women. Young girls begin to internalize the stereotypes and judge themselves by media’s impossible standards. The power that the media holds in impacting the lives of young girls is detrimental and eventually affects their body image, their satisfaction of their own body, and portrayal of their body as an object.

On all platforms of media, women and even young girls are oversexualized; thus leading to men viewing women as no more than breasts, vaginas, legs, or any other body part they prefer. Even in current television shows, movies, comic books, and advertisements, women are still depicted as sexual objects, which can damage a woman’s confidence. The oversexualization of women 's bodies can degrade a young woman’s confidence, and when girls try to boost confidence by dressing or acting like the women they see in the media, they are reprimanded for it. Girls cannot be blamed for their sexualization; they are just emulating what they see in the media.

Over the years a debate over who is to blame over the decline in how girls perceive themselves has arisen. With Photoshop being the societal norm concerning the media, it has become difficult for many to understand where the line between real and near impossible standards lies. Youths see an image edited to “perfection” and strive to reach the standards that they imagine due to the images displayed on magazines, television and social media. From Disney to magazines like Vogue the mass media bombards audiences with fake beauty that they, as normal people, will never be able to achieve. The mass media is responsible for causing the rise in the number of people with a poor body image, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgeries.

According to JP II, love is to will the good of the other, while objectification is use of the other (as a means to an end). Paraphrased - to use is the opposite of love . This being the case, the inference that objectification is the absence of love is a safe one. Where in life is there an absence of love?